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October 10, 2014

I know, it seems like a CRAAAAAZY thing to say, but the days of Gaby blogging here, at Queen Ella Bee Reads, are over.

WHY? (You might ask.)

Well, some of you may have noticed that I've been hardcore slacking recently. Very busy Gaby = very few posts. And I KNOW it doesn't matter and blogging is for fun and all that good stuff, but I can't help but feel like I've let you all down anyway. So instead of dragging along and feeling like a terrible person throughout, I've decided to change the game.

THAT'S RIGHT, I'M NOT GONE, I'M JUST CHANGING THE GAME.

Lisa (my beloved Epic Recs brain twin who still kinda blogs over at Lisa is Busy Nerding) and I started thinking about combining our super-blogging-powers last Spring but we were never very serious. Then, in August, we were like "UGH BLOGGING ALONE IS HARD" and decided it was time to merge and do it up.

So, basically, now I get to formally introduce my new blog to all my old blog readers:

Bookish Broads is run by Lisa and me. We figure two blogging slackers smushed together makes for one not-so-slackery blogger. We might be wrong, but we intend to have plenty of fun working together, y'know?

BUT I'll still be blogging, so you should probably go follow Bookish Broads. Y'know, because you all love me so much and want to continue reading all the crazy words I decided to publish about books and other things I love.

September 29, 2014

I love when the Fierce Reads tour comes to town, so when I was asked to be the designated tour stop blogger, I was over the moon! Why wouldn't I want to interview the incredibly talented Ann Aguirre, Caragh M. O'Brien and Marie Rutkoski?

Of course, the event itself was brilliant, as well. Books of Wonderbrought Emmy Laybourne (author of yet another brilliant Macmillan title, Monument 14) in to moderate and, as always, she brought the laughs. There was a quiz and those who took part in the quiz won ARCs. There was also the one prepared participant who asked a question with the word "moth" in it, and she won a coveted ARC of The Winner's Crime, the sequel to Marie Rutkoski's The Winner's Curse.

But let's circle back to the interview I did with the lovely Fierce Read ladies. We had such a great time and everyone gave such fantastic answers...

September 23, 2014

So this week I went through my stacks of ARCs, expired and unexpired and was like, hey, maybe if I moved the ones I really, really want to read ASAP off the spare bookshelf in my older sister's now-empty room (some people have the smarts to get married and, y'know, have a new home with their spouse) to my nightstand. Of course, this has led to a tower of books on my nightstand, but this move forced me to clean off the stuff that was there before? Y'know, just a little bonus.

Anyway, here are the books I intend to read this fall. It's more than 10 but less than 20 so let's call it a wash. And let's hope that their presence on my nightstand will help make sure I get through each and everyone. (Everyone, form a prayer circle now. Maybe that'll help.)

September 22, 2014

Title: RoomsAuthor: Lauren OliverRelease Date: September 23rd, 2014 Publisher: EccoPage Count: 320Source: ARC from the Publisher(I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honestreview. No favors were exchanged, my opinions are my own.)

The New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy makes her brilliant adult debut with this mesmerizing story in the tradition ofThe Lovely Bones, Her Fearful Symmetry, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways.Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance.But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.

Twelve-year-old Jocelyn dreams of becoming every bit as daring as her infamous father, Captain James Hook. Her grandfather, on the other hand, intends to see her starched and pressed into a fine society lady. When she’s sent to Miss Eliza Crumb-Biddlecomb’s Finishing School for Young Ladies, Jocelyn’s hopes of following in her father’s fearsome footsteps are lost in a heap of dance lessons, white gloves, and way too much pink.So when Jocelyn receives a letter from her father challenging her to avenge his untimely demise at the jaws of the Neverland crocodile, she doesn’t hesitate-here at last is the adventure she has been waiting for. But Jocelyn finds that being a pirate is a bit more difficult than she’d bargained for. As if attempting to defeat the Neverland’s most fearsome beast isn’t enough to deal with, she’s tasked with captaining a crew of woefully untrained pirates, outwitting cannibals wild for English cuisine, and rescuing her best friend from a certain pack of lost children, not to mention that pesky Peter Pan who keeps barging in uninvited.The crocodile’s clock is always ticking in Heidi Schulz’s debut novel, a story told by an irascible narrator who is both dazzlingly witty and sharp as a sword. Will Jocelyn find the courage to beat the incessant monster before time runs out?

Heidi Schulz sent me an excerpt (message in a bottle style, of course) to share with all of you, but FIRST I have to tell you why I'm SO EXCITED today.

Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
[Summary Source: Goodreads]